


No mistletoe needed

by ArielAquarial



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas Party, First Kiss, Getting Together, Gift Exchange, M/M, Pining Dean Winchester, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielAquarial/pseuds/ArielAquarial
Summary: Year after year, Dean is forced to participate in his family’s ‘unique’ version of a white elephant gift exchange. This year, he had a plan. You can’t participate in a gift exchange if you didn’t bring a gift, right? Well, things don’t really go as planned, but at least he gets to tough it out next to Cas—the man he may or may not have a tiny crush on.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 14
Kudos: 96





	No mistletoe needed

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! Another holiday fic!
> 
> Super big thanks to my beta for allowing me to throw this at her last minute!

Every year at Sam's Christmas party, they did a white elephant gift exchange. Which is fine. Dean  _ loved _ a good gift exchange, especially when people brought out the random, never in a million years would someone buy this, kind of gift. One year, Dean walked away with a beige t-shirt with a howling wolf on it. It was the ugliest thing he’s ever owned, and he wore it regularly to bed. Another year, he got a nice tire rim clock that absolutely no one but him wanted, and it still hangs proudly in his garage.

It’s his  _ mom’s _ white elephant tradition that drives him absolutely wild, so this year he had a plan. Dean was going to conveniently  _ forget _ to bring a gift. No gift? No participation. Instead of forcing himself to play that hot mess of a game, he’d sit back and drink some spiked eggnog and watch the chaos.

He pulled up to the party on time, chips and seven-layer dip in hand, and let himself in. Dean immediately noticed Charlie and her plus-one, her new friend Cas, who Dean may or may not have a small, inconsequential crush on. They were hovering by the dining table that was holding a pile of anonymous gifts for the exchange.

As soon as he dropped his load off in the kitchen, he checked his clothes for any stray shredded cheese or smeared-on beans, and headed over to greet Charlie and Cas.

“Hey, Dean!” Charlie drew him into a tight hug the moment he reached them. “You remember Cas?”

Of course he did. There was no way he could forget those eyes. “Hey, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean. It’s good to see you again.”

Charlie linked her arm with his. “Did you bring a white elephant? Cas and I went to the thrift store and found the ugliest stuff. No spoilers, but I can't wait for you to see it!”

“There’s no chance in hell I’m participating this year.”

“Oh, come on! It’s fun!”

Dean shook his head. “You weren’t here last year.”

“Oh yeah, the thirty-minute trade circle. I heard about that. Sam and Mary are beasts.”

“Trade circle?” Cas asked.

Charlie smiled wolfishly. “I forgot this is your first year at a Winchester Christmas party.”

Dean shook his head. “This game is torture.”

“You’re the only one who seems to hate it, you grinch.”

“What’s so bad?” Cas jumped in, interrupting their glaring match. “It’s just a white elephant.”

“You’ll see,” Charlie sing-songed. “Trust me, it’s fun.”

“You two enjoy yourselves, I didn’t bring a gift this year so it looks like I’m out.”

Charlie scoffed. “Like  _ that’s _ going to work.”

“I don’t have a gift, so I can’t participate. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.”

“You’d think,” she winked at him.

He just rolled his eyes. Dean’s plan was flawless. There was no way he’d have to participate this year. “Well, I haven’t said hi to mom yet, and you know how she is.”

He made his way towards the kitchen where he could smell the holiday ham. Once he’d made his escape, he took a deep breath, impressed that he had stayed so cool around the man. Charlie had met Cas a few months ago while she was consulting for Sandover, and she quickly took the quiet accountant under her wing. He’d never forget the first time he saw Cas and turned into a tongue-tied idiot. It hadn’t been the best first impression, but Cas doesn’t seem to be holding it against him. Since then, photos of Cas had flooded Charlie’s social media, so it was basically her fault Dean has a little, tiny crush on him. It would be impossible not to look at the picture she posted from her D&D campaign of him looking confused and holding a giant pewter stein full of amber liquid, or the one she posted of him at the lake, or them having a little coffee date, or any of the other candid shots she had of him.

It didn’t matter that he hadn’t really spent more than ten minutes altogether talking to the guy. It was enough to know he was friends with Charlie—one of the pickiest people he knew. Sure, she made friends with practically anybody, but only the best of the best made it to her inner circle, and Cas had quickly become one of them.

Their potluck dinner passed quickly, with Dean spending most of his time eavesdropping on Cas and Charlie, hoping to gleam a little more information about the man. When it was finally time to do the gift exchange, and everyone was tipsy on cheap wine and Bobby’s famous mulled cider, Mary made the announcement and started handing everyone their numbers. He watched in satisfaction as his mom made her way around the room with a paper bag, offering it to the guests and letting them pick one at random. By the time she made it to him, his smirk had turned into a full-blown smile.

“Here, sweetie. Pick your number.”

He shrugged and attempted to look contrite. “Sorry, mom, I didn’t bring a present.”

She frowned and pulled the bag away, looking confused. “You forgot? We do this every year.”

“Yeah… I was busy. You know how winter is around here and the shop’s been slammed. Sorry, mom. Maybe next year?”

Mary let out a sigh and pushed her blond hair behind her ear. “Well, you’re in luck, then. I have an extra present you can use.”

He froze in his tracks. “What?”

“Missouri couldn’t make it tonight and I had her white elephant gift for safekeeping. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you using it.”

“No, I couldn’t,” he gulped. “She paid for it, so—”

She gripped his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Nonsense, she wouldn’t mind at all. You know she likes you.”

“But, mom—”

“No, buts.” She shook the paper bag in his face until he relented and pulled a number. “Come on, everyone is taking their seats.”

He was dragged into the game room and nudged towards the only empty seat—right next to Cas. The man looked up as he sat down, eyebrow cocked. “I thought you weren’t playing.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice,” Hhe mumbled, “my mom had an extra gift.”

Cas smiled, eyes crinkled and gums showing. Fucking adorable. “I’m sorry you couldn’t get out of it.”

Dean looked away before Cas could notice his blush. “Yeah, you look really sorry.”

“Perhaps it won’t be too bad.”

Dean shot him a look. “Just wait. What’s your number?”

“Thirteen. You?”

“Six.” Dean pocketed his number and settled into the hard wooden chair for a long night. Mary came back, dragging the last stray over so she could get everything started. She spent a few moments going over the rules, and then it was on. Charlie was first and kicked off the game by grabbing a simply wrapped red package topped with a bow. Inside was a smores kit, chocolate and marshmallows included. She laughed and held it up, letting everyone get a good look. “I actually like this one!”

“Wait,” Cas interrupted. “Did Mary say there are unlimited steals? I thought you could only steal a present once per round.”

Dean turned to Cas, ignoring the game. Even though his number wasn’t very high, it could take a long time to get around to him. “You can’t do an immediate take-back, but yeah. We’ve had some items passed around like hot potatoes. The longest game we had was two hours.”

“Two hours?” he repeated incredulously. “Were the gifts that good?”

“Someone put in a cheap metal detector and everyone went crazy for it.”

“Wow.” Cas watched Bobby steal Charlie's smore kit, which prompted her to take Garth's set of novelty shot glasses. Garth stood, looking at the pile of presents for a moment, before deciding to steal the smore kit from Bobby. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. I  _ do _ want to go home sometime tonight.”

Dean smiled. “We’ll see. We might get lucky. There’s a twenty-dollar limit this year, so there can’t be something  _ that _ good.”

Cas returned his smile, eyes not leaving Dean’s for a little longer than necessary. It left Dean flushed and beating himself up for getting all worked up over a little eye contact. That was just the way Cas was, he told himself, it didn’t mean anything. They were just bonding over the dumb rules. That was it.

A commotion interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see that Garth was holding a leather wallet in his hand, eyes wide as he pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of its fold.

Dean cursed, but it was drowned out with chatter from the rest of the group. He immediately turned to Cas. “We’re fucked.”

He was biting his bottom lip, pinkening the already chapped flesh. “The limit was twenty dollars.”

“Yeah, but someone wanted to watch the world burn. Damn. We’re going to be here all night. Buckle up, this is going to be  _ fun _ .”

Just like he predicted, everyone fought tooth and nail for the damn wallet and money within. Dean got up twice, once to grab a piece of ham to snack on, and then to take a bathroom break. In that time, Cas waited patiently, probably hoping that they would get on with the game, but with the unlimited steals rule, Dean knew it wouldn’t happen. When he finally wandered back to the game ten minutes later with a plate of sloppily thrown together ham sliders, Cas was slumped in his chair, watching three people passing the wallet between each other, all too stubborn to stop.

They seemed to be the only two not enjoying the game, with everyone talking to themselves and laughing at the fact that ‘ _ Last year they did this for thirty minutes!’ _ Which was, sadly, true.

“I see what you mean,” Cas grumbled. “This is chaos.”

He held the plate out to Cas. “Want one?”

Cas let out a defeated breath and grabbed one, taking a frustrated bite. “No one’s opened the gift I brought, and at this rate, they never will.”

“What did you bring?”

“A t-shirt with the Golden Girls on it.”

“Sounds awesome. I’d fight for that.”

Cas smiled at him. “Well, if this doesn’t resolve itself, I’ll just grab the present when no one is looking and give it to you. I really don’t think anyone would notice.”

“No, I really don’t think they would.” He gestured to where the three of them were still playing hot potato with the wallet. “I’m going to find out who put the fifty in there and murder them.”

“I’ll help. I’ve been meaning to get to know you better and that seems like it would be a good bonding experience.”

Dean smiled at that. “We don’t need an excuse like that to get to know each other. Do you want to grab some cider with me?”

Cas nodded and got to his feet. “I’m sure they’ll let us know when it’s our turn.”

No one seemed to care, or even notice when the two men got up and left the room. In the kitchen, it was much less chaotic. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra played from someone’s bluetooth speaker and Sam’s fireplace crackled happily in the background.

Cas poured them each a healthy serving of mulled cider and offered him a mug. It was too hot to sip, so they leaned against the counter and held their mugs, listening to the rock opera play in the background.

Dean was the first to break the silence. “So, how is your first Winchester Christmas party going?”

“Better than I thought it would.”

“Even with the gift exchange?”

“I’d say  _ despite  _ the gift exchange. Everyone has been very welcoming.”

“Yeah. We know how to throw a party.”

“My family has a much more somber Christmas party, focusing on the birth of Jesus and singing from my grandmother's approved list of Christmas carols.”

“Sounds great.”

Cas hummed, sensing Dean’s sarcasm. “My father is a pastor and is the kind of man who is very against loud laughter and the like. It got worse in the years after I came out as gay. They weren’t openly against it, but I could tell that they thought that focusing on Jesus would somehow ‘cure me’ of my gayness,” he said, actually making air quotes “Or remind me of the hell that was to come if I continued on my path. This feels like the celebration Christmas was meant to be.”

Dean gulped at the admission. He usually had a pretty decent gaydar, but Cas hadn’t pinged it enough for Dean to consider making a move. He took a long swallow of the cider, almost burning his throat in an attempt to get a bit of liquid courage. “Well, you’re more than welcome here. When I came out as bisexual in high school, my mom and dad started buying flags and trying to set me up with everyone’s son.”

It was out there. Cas was gay, Dean was bi. Now, all he had to do was make his move.

“You’re very lucky.” Cas’s eyes were so goddamn earnest.

“Yeah. They’re very supportive of whoever I decide to bring home. How about you? Are they supportive of you and your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend right now, but my parents tend to just ignore it in hopes that it will go away.”

His heart began to pound double time. “So you’re single?”

Cas looked down at his feet shyly for a moment before glancing back up and locking eyes with Dean. “I am. How about yourself?”

“I’m single too.”

It was impossible to look away from his eyes, so clear and blue and full of hope. There was no way he was misreading those signals. Cas  _ had _ to be into him. He just needed to seal the deal and ask him out.

“Cas—”

Cas leaned in and pressed his lips gently into Dean’s.

Dean’s side dug uncomfortably into the counter, the edge just the right height to cut into his hipbone, but he didn’t give a single fuck. Cas’s lips were soft and warm, and the scent of pine candles, warm cider, and  _ Cas _ was filling his head. He let out an appreciative groan and gently cupped Cas’s cheek, taking the time to rub his thumb across the stubble, adding the gentle rasp of noise to his mental catalog of the moment. Cas’s palm was warm against his back, comforting and secure.

Cas pressed a little harder and let his lips part, slotting them together in a slick slide that sent the butterflies in his chest into overdrive. His hand drifted into Cas’s hair as their lips moved together, their mouths opening a little more with each push and pull until their tongues grazed, and suddenly, Dean’s hand was gathering that soft hair into a fist, and Cas was grabbing the back of Dean’s shirt.

He tried to keep things soft and gentle, but Cas’s tongue was insistent and the taste of cider in his mouth was addictive. He was powerless to stop himself, and Cas must have felt the same because suddenly the pressure on his hip was gone and Dean’s ass was being pushed against the granite countertop. He made room for Cas between his legs and the man took it greedily, pushing his hips up against Dean’s with a friction that was driving him crazy.

In the back of his mind, he remembered that he was at his brother's house and there were people in the next room, but that thought was gone after only a moment of consideration. They made out like teenagers to the soundtrack of Christmas music and muted laughter until they were forced to pull apart and catch their breath.

They stared at each other, dopey smiles on their faces. Dean took a moment to glance above them. “Mistletoe?”

“No, I just really wanted to kiss you.”

Dean huffed in amusement. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“I’d like that.” Cas pulled out his phone. “Can I text you?”

Dean rattled off his number and waited patiently for Cas’s text to come through. He was just about to suggest taking things outside so they could kiss some more, but Mary’s head poked through the doorway and pinned him with a look. “Dean! You’re up!”

He cursed in his head as Cas backed away, trying to put a more respectable distance between them. “Ok, yeah… I’m coming.”

She smiled at them and disappeared, leaving them alone again. “We should get back,” Cas said, “but I wouldn’t be opposed to continuing this a little later.”

Dean smiled widely. “You read my mind. Now, which one is the Golden Girl's shirt, and do you think it would fit me?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I'll see you next year!


End file.
